Spring 2011

Good grief -- it's almost February and I've not been out ice fishing yet!! Wife had back surgery and I've been playing nurse for most of the winter. I've got everything ready in the garage -- just need to get going!

But looking at the lake this winter, there are lots of people out fishing (Probably the most I've seen since I've been out here!). The few people I've spoken with say it's been kind of a mixed bag -- some days, just small ones -- other days, nice catches. At least there's lots of ice.

The past summer was very good for large bluegills and some very large redears. I didn't do very well with the walleye in the fall. The bass have been plentiful -- but I don't think they are the size of past years (Yes, I know some people still got some nice ones.). I thought the crappie fishing was poor this summer. Seems like I went for a month without catching a single crappie. Fish populations wane and peak over the years usually due to poor spawning conditions.

Last summer the thermocline (water with rapidly dropping temperatures) was about 12 feet. Most of the larger bluegills stay at about 15-18 feet in mid-summer and then move higher in late summer as the dissolved oxygen gets depleted. Sometimes this transition happens quite quickly -- then the deep water fishing comes to a halt. It's very noticeable with a good fish finder -- one day they are at 18 feet, and the next at 12 feet, suspended over the deeper water. Realize, that in Lake Somerset, the oxygen is gone below 15 feet by late August. You then need to change your techniques. I use an ultralite rod with 4-lb line and a depth-setting reel. Once you get a bite -- you set the reel to that depth. Works pretty good. During the daytime you will see many large marks (suspended fish). These are mostly schools of crappies and walleyes. I've tried lots of different baits and lures at the same depth as the marks -- mostly with no luck. I suspect these fish hang out at this depth because they are comfortable -- then begin feeding at sunset and continue through the night. During the daylight hours, they just don't feed.

Regarding the redear sunfish in the lake -- these fish seem to have taken very well. We planted about 7,000 redear fingerlings in 2002. There are some that are around 12 inches long in this lake. I've heard of a lot of 11-12 inch fish caught this past summer. A lot of fishermen call these "hybrid" sunfish -- but they are a distinct species, and are a native fish south of Michigan. They are also called shellcrackers or stump knockers. They like to feed on snails and small shellfish (e.g. Zebra mussels?). However, they will interbreed with pumpkinseed sunfish and perhaps bluegills. So in that sense, you will have some hybrids mixed into the fishery.

Early last summer we stocked about 1,000 northern pike fingerlings, and then in October we stocked over 1,200 walleye fingerlings. Hopefully, these will help keep our panfish under control over the next few years.

I also mention the lake association has gotten several complaints of trespassing ice fishermen this winter. Although there are numerous signs stating this is a private lake, etc., fishermen still get access through the parks. When confronted, a couple of these guys said they were from Lake Leann -- and they heard the fishing was better over here! That makes me feel better that we are doing the right thing with our stocking program.

What to do about this problem? Some ideas tossed around are: hire somebody to make patrols and issue trespass citations (Somerset Police -- with money from our stocking fund?). Issue cards to each resident? Issue vehicle stickers? We've tried the resident cards in the past -- but it was still a problem enforcing. I think the vehicle stickers are perhaps our best option. Most of the fishermen who don't live on the lakefront use the parks to get access. I, for one, don't want my grandkids and friends hassled about fishing on the lake, especially when they get access through my property. Anybody who has any other ideas, please let one of the board members know. I still wonder whether it's really a big problem?

George Rausch